Subaru in America
by Sumeragi Thirteen
Summary: Subaru, Hokuto, and Seishiro go to the United States of America! What evils can lurk in their future? Will the Americans accept shy, quiet, cute Subaru; spunky, friendly Hokuto; and perverted, gay (but extremely cool in glasses) Seishiro? Rate and review!
1. Chapter 1

Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 1  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Corny title, eh? Sorry. Yeah, this fic more or less sucks and it was supposed to be humorous, but I failed miserably. Anyway, enjoy!  
  
Subaru Sumeragi sat nervously on the train. On his lap, the American book Of Mice and Men lay unread. It was a homework assignment, of course, Subaru was not a very casual reader, especially for American books. His elbow rested on the windowsill, his chin placed in his hand. Through the window, Subaru could see trees zooming by in a bewildering blur of green and chestnut; and the sky: a smudge of crisp, light blue.  
  
Tokyo is so different from here, Subaru thought.  
  
He was on his way to Kyoto and his home; though it did not feel like the typical perception of home. Home was supposed to be where your family and friends were, a place to feel comfortable, and place where you were always welcome. To him, Tokyo was this definition. His sister, Hokuto, and their veterinary doctor friend, Seishiro Sakurazuka, both dwelled there. Though the majority of his family called Kyoto home, he could never do that. Tokyo was the only place for him.  
  
With the thought of Seishiro made Subaru blush. Though the man was nine years his elder, he had an obsessive crush on Subaru. Subaru could not decide if he felt the same way. Seishiro was a charming, attractive, and intelligent man. Not to mention his extreme devotion to Subaru. Hokuto always teased Subaru on how he would marry Seishiro one day. Though Subaru denied any feelings towards Seishiro, he could not help himself sometimes. Subaru remembered that night in Tokyo Tower…  
  
The train halted suddenly. Subaru snapped back into reality and realized he had arrived in Kyoto. He quickly stuffed his book in his bag and waited patiently to exit the train. The aisle was narrow, but Subaru managed to squeeze through to throng of people and out the door to find another, even more clustered crowd. With a sigh, he made his way to the street and called for a cab.  
  
He arrived to the House of Sumeragi shortly. His nerves were starting to get at him: his stomach ached, his head was slightly dazed, and his mouth was completely dry. What did his grandmother want from him this time? She usually called on the phone when he had to do a simple job. It was only for the big jobs did she ever order him to come to the House.  
  
After entering, he slipped his shoes off and walked to the drawing room where his grandmother always sat. Indeed, she was there, sitting calmly, painting a landscape. As Subaru moved closer, he noticed the landscape looked odd. The trees were severely green and pine shaped. This was not a very traditional Japanese painting.  
  
"Good afternoon, Grandmother," Subaru said humbly with a bow.  
  
She turned to face Subaru. Her expression was in permanent seriousness, the wrinkles on her face distinct and clearly defined. She was very weatherworn and old to Subaru and did not seem like the typical grandmother. She was too stern, too unfeeling to be a grandmother. Her relationship with Subaru seemed more professional than personal. She never appeared to be concerned with Subaru's feelings or well being, not to mention how she rarely asked about Hokuto.  
  
"You are late, Subaru," she snapped viciously, turning once again to her painting.  
  
"Forgive me, Grandmother," Subaru replied cautiously. "I missed the first train and…"  
  
"I am quite aware that you missed the train," she interrupted sharply, "but I have more important things to discuss than train schedules."  
  
Subaru sat on a mat near his feet. He looked down at his gloved hands and nodded.  
  
His grandmother did a small brush stroke before saying, "I have a job for you."  
  
Subaru looked up to stare at the painting. "Yes, Grandmother?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of the United States of America?" she questioned.  
  
Subaru almost laughed. He could have said, "Who hasn't?", but decided against it, considering his grandmother's current mood. Instead, he answered, "Yes, Grandmother."  
  
She added a few strokes of dark green to the painting. "Have you ever been there?"  
  
Subaru shook his head no.  
  
Unexpectedly, she turned and gave a tight, forced smile. "How would you and Hokuto like to go there?"  
  
Taken aback, Subaru simply replied, "What for?"  
  
She gave a mocking laugh. "What for? For a job, of course. Do you think I would send you on a vacation there? Subaru, really!" She continued with her laughter for a little while.  
  
Subaru simply blushed.  
  
With a final cackle, she ceased her guffawing and replied, "It's a special assignment." When all she got was a confused look, she continued. "The Americans are very different from the Japanese. They abandoned the practice of exorcism and forbade it." She glanced at Subaru's puzzled look for a while, then went on. "You know very well that many exorcists turn into demon summoners later on." She stared back at her painting. "For some, the temptation the demons give them is too great. The Christian society passed a silent law that disallowed any exorcisms. Now any exorcists are either amateurs or people who come from a long line of exorcists, though that line is wearing thin."  
  
"Aren't there other religions in the US?" Subaru questioned.  
  
"Yes," his grandmother replied, "but their lines are wearing thin as well. The Jews prohibited violence of any kind, including exorcisms, a long time ago. 'Never again' is the phrase they say. The Muslims never had to worry about demons. If someone showed any signs of possession, they would kill that person as well as the spirit. There are very few of any other religion there, and even fewer exorcists."  
  
"How could I possibly exorcise all the demons in that country?" Subaru asked in a sort of panic. He was only one person, after all.  
  
Again, his grandmother laughed at him. "Subaru, I am not expecting you to exorcise all the demons there. One area in particular seems to have many powerful demons dwelling there. That is where I want you to go." She moved aside from her picture to expose a school surrounded by forest. Pointing to it, she said, "This is Middletown. It is on the eastern side of the US called New England. You will live there, attend school there, and work there. But you must not let anyone know what your occupation is lest you be shunned from society. There will be a small, two-bedroom house for you near the school, so you can walk. You may bring Hokuto if you wish."  
  
Stunned, Subaru stuttered, "Grandmother, wh-what about Tokyo?"  
  
"What about it?"  
  
He swallowed hard. "There are demons in Tokyo too."  
  
His grandmother snorted. "Don't worry about Tokyo. There are plenty of exorcists in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. Plus, this arrangement will not be permanent. Maybe a few years or until things settle down there."  
  
Subaru felt sick to his stomach. "Why must we help them? Isn't this their problem?"  
  
Her eyes narrowed and drilled into him like a knife. "You don't understand, do you? The more demons there are in this world, the stronger the individuals are. It's the same with people. Would you be more confident standing alone or in a group of thousands? We cannot let the demons grow confident."  
  
Subaru nodded reluctantly.  
  
"Good," the old woman chimed affably. "Your flight is in two days. Here are the tickets. You will go to Tokyo's International Airport and arrive in New York's LaGuardia Airport. You may go home now."  
  
Subaru nodded again and stood. He took the tickets and turned to leave, but his grandmother stopped him.  
  
"One more thing, Subaru: Remember never to take your gloves off."  
  
It was about seven thirty when he arrived home. The smell of cooking vegetables permeated from under the door of his apartment. He stood in front of his apartment door for a few minutes pondering. What was he going to tell Hokuto? Pack your bags, sister, we're heading for the States. He was sure Hokuto would be excited to go, but would miss all her friends, and especially Tokyo. Then there was Seishiro. Subaru only had two plane tickets, meaning Seishiro would not be able to come with them. He might not even see him for two years! The mere thought of it made Subaru miss Seishiro already.  
  
Suddenly, the door swung open. Seishiro had the doorknob in his hand and a beaming smile on his face. Subaru tried to smile back, but only managed a small grin.  
  
"Don't be a stranger," Seishiro said matter-of-factly. "There's plenty of food for everyone."  
  
"Hello, Seishiro," Subaru greeted him the best he could and walked in.  
  
Hokuto stood in the kitchen wearing her favorite lace apron over a sky blue, short-sleeve, cotton dress. Beautiful white pearls graced her ears and neck like clouds ornament the sky. She appeared impatient with Subaru's tardiness, but he knew she was glad to see him.  
  
"What took you so long?" she snapped, running over to him, wooden spoon in hand ready to hit him. "Did you miss the train?"  
  
Subaru nodded shyly.  
  
"Subaru!" Hokuto cried. "Your fiancé and I were worried sick!"  
  
Subaru cringed at the word "fiancé". "Hokuto, I'm sorry."  
  
His sister sighed. Suddenly, she jumped at him and gave him a gigantic embrace. "Subaru, I could never stay mad at you!"  
  
He tried to smile, but failed again. He looked at Seishiro standing behind Hokuto, a concerned expression on his face. Seishiro seemed to have a sort of sixth sense about Subaru's feelings; he always knew when he was downhearted and depressed, infuriated and angry, or joyful and gay. Sometimes Seishiro knew him better than Subaru knew himself.  
  
"Dinner's almost ready," Hokuto informed them, letting Subaru go. "Why don't you two sit down?"  
  
Subaru sat down in one of the three chairs, his back to the kitchen. Seishiro pulled a chair close to Subaru, almost uncomfortably close. He smiled at Subaru warmly and clutched his hand. Subaru attempted to move away, but Seishiro held him tight, like a trap around struggling prey. He leaned in close to Subaru's face. In fact, he was so close, Subaru could feel him breathing on his face.  
  
"What's wrong, Subaru?" Seishiro uttered softly, as if not wanting Hokuto to hear.  
  
Subaru backed up a bit. "I have something to tell you two," he whispered, unintentionally imitating Seishiro's tone.  
  
"Then tell," Seishiro coaxed, leaning in even closer.  
  
Hokuto glanced at them from her cooking. "Whoa! Get a room, you two!" She laughed loudly.  
  
Subaru stood up quickly. "Ho-Hokuto!" he squeaked nervously. "I, um, I have something to tell the both of you."  
  
Hokuto walked over to the table. "Tell away."  
  
Subaru cleared his throat. "Grandmother has given me a new job."  
  
Seishiro stood completely still and Hokuto nodded.  
  
"But it's not here," Subaru continued. "It's in Middletown, USA."  
  
Hokuto's jaw dropped. Seishiro's face was completely neutral.  
  
"USA?" Hokuto cried. "Are you joking?"  
  
Subaru shook his head. "I know it's going to be hard for you to leave all your friends behind, Hokuto, but…"  
  
Hokuto laughed. "Are you kidding? Screw them! I'm going to the USA! All those years of taking English will be put to good use."  
  
Seishiro remained silent.  
  
Screw them? Is that what Hokuto thinks about her friends, including Seishiro? Subaru thought.  
  
Hokuto drilled Subaru with questions. "When are we going? Where in the US is Middletown? How long are we going to be there? Where are we going to live?"  
  
Subaru answered all of them.  
  
"Cool!" Hokuto cried running to her room. "Two days! I gotta start packing right now! No time to loose!"  
  
Subaru stared at Seishiro and Seishiro at him.  
  
"Sei-Seishiro," he stuttered, "I'll miss you."  
  
Hokuto popped back into the room. "What do you mean by that, Subaru? Isn't Seishiro coming with us?  
  
Subaru shook his head no.  
  
Her expression turned quickly from glee to sorrow. "Seishiro's not coming? B-but…" She fell into Seishiro's arms and began to weep.  
  
All Seishiro did was laugh. Subaru frowned. He obviously thought this whole thing was one big joke.  
  
Hokuto lifted her head and cried, "I don't see what's so funny!"  
  
"Why can't I go?" Seishiro asked with a smile.  
  
"Because," Subaru started to explain, "it's too much money to fly there."  
  
Again, Seishiro laughed. "If you don't want me to go…"  
  
Subaru shook his head. "It's not that." He thought for a moment. "Actually, I can't think of a reason other than the cost."  
  
Hokuto beamed. "Seishiro, you're rich, right? Why don't you come with us? I'm sure there's plenty of room in the house."  
  
Subaru cut in. "There are only two bedrooms though."  
  
Hokuto gave an evil grin. "That's plenty of room. I'll have one room and you two can share the other."  
  
Subaru blushed bright red and turned to Seishiro, who winked at him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 2  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, what did you think of the first chapter? Liked it? Well, you obviously did if you want to read the next one.  
  
WARNING: As with all Tokyo Babylon, this contains YAOI. It's on the verge of limeness, but not really, ya know. Anyway, enjoy!  
  
"Oh my God!" Hokuto squealed gaily as she stared out the window of the large passenger jet. "Look how high we are!"  
  
Subaru clutched the armrest of the chair. It was his first time flying in an airplane and he was petrified. He turned his head to look behind him where Seishiro sat four rows back. The man waved and smiled. The smile was comforting, but Subaru wished Seishiro was sitting with him instead of Hokuto who kept on saying "bomb" and "we're gonna crash" whenever she felt like it.  
  
They had been very lucky to get on the plane. Hokuto swore not to leave unless Seishiro was with them, and he had to wait on standby. The flight was almost completely full and they were about to take off when someone threw up on the plane. Of course, they left and Seishiro was put in their seat after it was cleaned.  
  
"Wow, Subaru," Hokuto chimed. "Wouldn't it be cool if we crashed in the water and had to swim to the US?" She gave a maniacal titter.  
  
"Ho-Hokuto," Subaru squeaked, "I don't think you should say that on an airplane."  
  
"What?" Hokuto questioned as if she didn't know.  
  
Subaru whispered, "We're going to crash."  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
Subaru said a little more loudly, "We're going to crash."  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"We're going to crash!" Subaru shouted.  
  
Everyone in the plane turned towards Subaru, giving him dirty looks. A flight attendant walked over and asked him to be quiet. All the while, Subaru was blushing bright crimson and Hokuto was laughing her head off.  
  
"I can't believe you fell for that!" she snickered.  
  
Behind them, Seishiro opened up the New York Times they provided on the plane and read the Classifieds section.  
  
Subaru entered the humble, colonial-style house surrounded by great oak and maple trees. The house was small, but quaint and adequate for three people. It was fully furnished-a sofa in the family room, dinning table in the eating area, a bed in each bedroom, and a TV in the family room as well- and even had cutlery and dishes ready for use.  
  
"This is great," Hokuto informed her companions as she slammed a drawer. "I can't wait to use forks and knives. I was getting so sick of using chopsticks my whole life!" She sighed and plopped down onto the sofa. "Grandmother really knows how to take care of us."  
  
Subaru nodded, trying to carry all of his things inside. Their grandmother really did know how to take care of them. She had even arranged for a limousine to take them from the airport to the house.  
  
Hokuto jumped up and grabbed her lightest suitcase. "Well, let's get settled!" And she skipped up the stairs to one of the bedrooms.  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru called after her. "We just got here. Can't we just relax?"  
  
His sister half tumbled down the stairs. "You're right. Let's watch some TV!" She jumped back onto the sofa.  
  
Seishiro entered carrying his bags as well as most of Hokuto's. Though they looked heavy, Seishiro appeared completely comfortable carrying everything. He marched up the stairs, not staggering for a moment.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru called. "Do you need any help?"  
  
Seishiro laughed. "Remember, I'm the man in this relationship. I can't have you doing any of the hard work."  
  
Hokuto sneered. "Yeah, if Seishiro's boyfriend got tired, how would they be able to stay up all night having…"  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru cried, interrupting what he knew was going to turn out to be something dirty. Subaru was blushing so much, even his ears were turning red.  
  
After triumphantly embarrassing Subaru, Hokuto turned the TV on. Subaru sat down and watched what he assumed was the news. Hokuto laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?" Subaru asked.  
  
Hokuto pointed to the TV. "Don't you get it?"  
  
Subaru shook his head no.  
  
"It's a farce on news!" Hokuto informed him.  
  
Subaru watched the show for a few more minutes. He did not understand any of the jokes. In fact, he didn't understand most of the words they were saying.  
  
Hokuto stared at him. "Subaru…"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Don't you understand English?"  
  
"Well, some of it," Subaru answered, embarrassed.  
  
"Subaru! How are you going to go to American school if you don't speak English?" Hokuto questioned, frustrated.  
  
Subaru frowned. "I can speak and understand English!"  
  
"Maybe, but you're going to have to take one of those special classes," Hokuto informed him.  
  
"Special classes?"  
  
Hokuto nodded. "Yeah. Remember the Japanese as a second language class we had at our school? Well, I was reading the list of courses for our new school and they have an English as a second language class." She whipped out the booklet from her bag and handed it to Subaru.  
  
He simply stared at it. "Um…"  
  
"Oh, no," Hokuto said, looking at Subaru strangely. "Don't tell me you can't read English."  
  
Subaru looked at her innocently. "I know some words and all the letters."  
  
"Seishiro!" Hokuto called. "You're fiancé's illiterate!"  
  
Her brother objected, "No I'm not! I just never really paid any attention in English class."  
  
Seishiro came down stairs holding a newspaper. He strolled over to Subaru and put his arms around him. "Don't worry, I'll help you."  
  
Subaru blushed.  
  
"How?" Hokuto asked. "We have to go to our school tomorrow!"  
  
Seishiro showed Hokuto a highlighted part on the classified section of the newspaper.  
  
"You're going to be a biology teacher at our high school?" Hokuto inquired.  
  
Seishiro nodded. "If any of the teachers fail my Subaru, I'll kill them." He gave an extremely exaggerated laugh.  
  
All Subaru could do was sit apprehensively, dreading what tomorrow would bring. He looked at the watch on his wrist. It was eleven at night.  
  
Seishiro caught a glimpse of his watch as well. "Oh, my. Time for bed. We have to get up at six in the morning. Better go to sleep now."  
  
"Good idea," Hokuto agreed, yawning. "I'm bushed. Night, all." She skipped upstairs to her room.  
  
Subaru went up the stairs with Seishiro following close behind.  
  
Subaru looked behind him and caught Seishiro staring at him. "What are you thinking?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
The other smiled. "How nice your ass looks."  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried, running the rest of the way up the stairs.  
  
Hokuto was already in her pajamas and brushing her teeth. "Hey guys," she said. "You know, there are only two beds in the whole house."  
  
"I'll sleep on the couch," Subaru volunteered.  
  
Seishiro objected. "I won't hear of it! You're sleeping on the bed."  
  
"Are you sure Seishiro?" Subaru asked as he entered the nicely decorated bedroom.  
  
"Positive," Seishiro answered with a smile. He went in the room with him. "Let's get in our pajamas."  
  
Subaru nodded as Seishiro shut the door.  
  
"Woo hoo!" Hokuto cried from the other side. "Go Seishiro and Subaru!"  
  
Subaru panicked. "Seishiro, um, don't you need your privacy?"  
  
The other laughed. "Always thinking of others. No, I'm fine." He unbuttoned his shirt.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru squeaked. "What are you doing?"  
  
By then, Seishiro had his shirt off. "Undressing so I can get into my pajamas, as should you."  
  
"Not with you in here!"  
  
Seishiro smiled. "Don't be so modest, Subaru. We're both mature males."  
  
Subaru turned to face to wall. "I just don't feel comfortable."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't know." He wanted to see what Seishiro was doing.  
  
Subaru heard him unzip his suitcase. "Well, I think you should throw caution to the wind and stop being so modest."  
  
Subaru peeked over his shoulder. Right in front of him, he saw Seishiro in his underwear, his back to Subaru, digging in his suitcase. Subaru quickly turned to face the wall again.  
  
Oh my God. What do I do? he asked himself.  
  
"Oh, damn," Seishiro cursed. "I forgot to pack pajamas! Well, looks like I'll have to sleep in my underwear."  
  
"Seishiro?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Please get under the blankets."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Subaru blushed. "I-I don't want to s-see you."  
  
"Why not? Aren't you curious?"  
  
"N-no!"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
Subaru was silent for a moment. He was, but didn't want Seishiro to know.  
  
"Subaru, aren't you curious?" Seishiro asked again.  
  
"Seishiro," Subaru said, swallowing the saliva in his mouth. "Please get under the covers."  
  
He heard Seishiro go into the bed and pull the covers over himself. "Happy?"  
  
Subaru turned around and saw Seishiro in the bed, the blankets just covering his waist and below. He was smiling and giving Subaru looks.  
  
"I'm going to sleep on the couch!" Subaru exclaimed, heading for the door. He jiggled the handle, but the door wouldn't open. Pushing on the door he cried, "Open!"  
  
"Uh-uh," Hokuto's voice on the other side sang. "I locked the door from the outside. You're not getting out until tomorrow morning."  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru yelled fiercely, fiercely pushing at the door.  
  
"No way, Subaru," Hokuto teased. "This is the only way for you guys to really get to know each other." She chuckled and walked down the hall.  
  
Subaru turned to face Seishiro. "Did you tell her to do this?"  
  
The man in the bed shrugged.  
  
After giving the door an angry punch, Subaru sat pretzel-style on the floor.  
  
"Subaru," Seishiro said, in a singsong voice. "Why don't you get in your pajamas and come into bed?"  
  
Blushing, Subaru answered, "Seishiro, I don't want to, you know, do anything."  
  
Seishiro tried to look puzzled. "What do you mean? What would I do to?"  
  
"Seishiro," Subaru said, staring at the door, "you know what I mean."  
  
"No, I'm afraid I don't."  
  
He sighed. "I don't want you to do anything to me like you did in Tokyo Tower that night."  
  
Seishiro presented an expression of cognition. "Oh, yes." He smiled. "But don't you think that was beautiful."  
  
The younger turned to face Seishiro. He was so handsome, so attractive. To Subaru, he was more than a friend, he was his first love, his beloved. But how could he love a man? What was it inside of him that made him succumb to him? Perhaps it was his compassion for life and love. Or it was his complete devotion towards Subaru.  
  
"I don't know what I think, Seishiro," he voiced.  
  
"Come here," Seishiro ordered, but benevolently, and with tenderness.  
  
Obeying, Subaru walked over to the bed.  
  
"Lie down," the other commanded, delicately.  
  
Like a puppet, Subaru climbed into the bed and lay his head on Seishiro's lap. He gently stroke Subaru's head, his soft hands warmed Subaru's chilled face. Smiling at him, Seishiro whispered, "Why have you denied me your love?"  
  
"I don't know," Subaru murmured quietly. "I, well, maybe it's 'wrong'."  
  
Seishiro snickered a bit, and continued to caress Subaru's head. "Why do you think it's wrong?"  
  
Subaru curled up closer to Seishiro. "We're both male."  
  
The other chuckled. "True love goes beyond the physical form."  
  
Quickly, Subaru sat up. "True love?"  
  
Seishiro nodded.  
  
Abruptly, as if fleeing from him, Subaru jumped out of the bed away from Seishiro. He stared at him, Seishiro's dark eyes gleaming from the insignificant lamplight. The source of light flickered slightly, causing the shadows to play and dance across his face like sheets of somber, black silk in an eerie wind. He appeared to be downhearted by Subaru's sudden actions; his expression was that of a man who was denied his greatest desire, aspiration, and carnality. Pains of distress overcame Subaru at that moment. He did not know whether to remain or flee; to be safe with the man who had acknowledged his love or to be safe away from any stresses of being loved.  
  
"Seishiro, I…" Subaru started, searching for the words.  
  
Seishiro stood and walked over to him. He was only in his underwear and had no feelings of embarrassment or modesty. Gazing deep into Subaru's eyes, he grabbed his hand, clutching it to his chest. They stared at each other for a few, awkward moments before Seishiro brought Subaru's hand to his lips and gently kissed his fingers. For the first time, Subaru did not back away.  
  
"What would you do if I kissed you on your face?" Seishiro inquired, speaking tenderly.  
  
"I would," Subaru choked, "blush."  
  
Seishiro's face moved in closer and closer to Subaru's. He was breathing heavily, his excitement obvious and clear. He gently dropped Subaru's hand and moved his own to the other's face. His fingers gently caressed Subaru's flushed cheeks, while Subaru stood wide eyed, his pupils diminishing deep within the whites of his eyes. As Seishiro drew near, his warm touch tightening around the other's face, Subaru closed his eyes, sealing off all light.  
  
"Seishiro," he whispered, barely breathing.  
  
"Yes?" Seishiro answered in equal amplification.  
  
"Why do you love me?" Subaru uttered, moving himself this time, intimately close.  
  
Seishiro smiled and, with his other hand, brought Subaru's waist closer to his. "I'll never tell." 


	3. Chapter 3

Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 3  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am not racist. At all. I believe in equality for all races, genders, intellectual levels, etc. Got it?  
  
WARNING: Bad body part word said, if you know what I mean. Anyway, enjoy!  
  
"I'd like everyone to meet our new student," Miss Winters informed her class gleefully. "His name is Subaru Sumeragi. He's from Japan. Everyone say, 'Konnichi-wa!'."  
  
The class gave a half-hearted hello. Miss Winters smiled proudly at her students. She then turned to Subaru and said loudly and slowly, "You can sit in the seat next to Maria." She pointed to the desk next to a large, Hispanic girl.  
  
It was the first day of school and his first class was English as a second language. It was already halfway through the semester, so most of the students knew a lot of English. Subaru had gotten lost in the school; it was ten times bigger than his school in Japan and ten times as confusing. Plus, he didn't have one class with Hokuto because she was in all the high academics classes: Shakespeare, calculus, advanced human biology, and advanced global studies. Subaru was a good student, but because he couldn't speak English as well as Hokuto, he was a little behind for classes.  
  
Subaru sat down next to Maria, who was the largest girl he had ever seen. Her stomach barely fit in the desk and her arms and legs stuck out of her body like pillows. Next to her, Subaru seemed like a stick.  
  
"Kuhnchi-wa," Maria said, giving a snort of a laugh as her friends stared at Subaru. They went into all out giggles when Subaru rolled his eyes at them.  
  
"Girls!" Miss Winters said, calmly. "Be nice."  
  
Miss Winters was quite pretty. She had long, slightly curly blonde hair; round, very aware, sapphire eyes; and a rosy, merry complexion. Her smile warmed Subaru's heart. It was soft and not forced, which made him feel better about being in the English as a second language class.  
  
"Oh!" she cried. "I almost forgot!"  
  
She grabbed a book off her desk. She seemed to waltz towards Subaru, her hair bouncing up and down like petite springs. The book was passed from her hands to Subaru's quickly, but to Subaru, it seemed as if it was in slow motion.  
  
"Here's your text book, Subaru," she stated, smiling.  
  
Subaru blushed. "Thank you."  
  
She strolled back over to her desk. As she passed students, they would give her funny looks or stick up their middle fingers. Subaru wondered why these people were giving this wonderful, kind woman such rude gestures. The answer revealed itself shortly.  
  
"I finished grading all your tests from last week," she said, "and I'm quite pleased with how you all did." She took a stack of papers off her desk and began passing them out. All the students' faces showed expressions of true disgust. There were statements of "Not again" and "My mom's going to kill me!" When she handed Maria's test back to her, Subaru took a little peek. There were numerous red X's and on the top, on the right hand side, was a gigantic, red "F".  
  
She grimaced. "Mama won't like this." She folded the paper in half and stuffed it into her notebook. When she caught Subaru staring at her grade, she made a short hissing sound and turned away in shame.  
  
Subaru's glance turned to Miss Winters. She was writing busily on the board, humming softly to herself. By her manner, she seemed like a kind, fair grader, so why was everyone displeased with his or her marks? Could it be that everyone was a poor student and test taker? Subaru assumed this was probably the case. He smiled with content. Maybe he wouldn't be the stupidest kid in his class after all.  
  
The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Subaru did have some trouble understanding and following what people were saying, but, luckily, most of the students didn't use big, complex words that Subaru wouldn't understand. For the most part, no one really talked to him. They'd ask, "Do you speak Japanese?" or "Where's Japan?"  
  
It wasn't until right before the last period, which was biology, that the day became especially eventful. Subaru overheard a conversation:  
  
"Have you seen the new biology teacher?" asked a petite young woman to a large, burly boy.  
  
"No," he answered. "They finally got a new biology teacher?"  
  
The girl nodded. "Yeah. He's from Japan."  
  
"Japan?" the boy questioned. "There are two new students from Japan."  
  
"Really?" the girl replied, slightly annoyed that the boy wouldn't allow her to continue. "Well, the biology teacher's name is Mr. Sakurazuka and he's a dreamboat!"  
  
Subaru perked up and moved closer to the two conversing.  
  
The boy put his arm around the girl. "I thought I was your dreamboat!"  
  
She blushed. "I never said Mr. Sakurazuka was my dreamboat. I just said he was a dreamboat."  
  
Subaru rolled his eyes just as the bell rang. The cluster of students moved towards their classrooms. He found his and entered it with butterflies in his stomach. He didn't know how he would react to seeing Seishiro after the night before. (Seishiro had left for the school before Subaru even got up that morning.) He also didn't know how Seishiro would react to him. Subaru really didn't want Seishiro to embarrass him.  
  
Surprisingly, he was the first one in the classroom. Facing the chalkboard stood Seishiro, erasing something. In the upper, right-hand corner of the board, "Mr. Sakurazuka" was written in both English letters and Japanese characters. Subaru couldn't help but smile, his cheeks flushing as he did so. He walked slowly towards the man, reaching in his pocket to grab a note that told the teachers he was a new student. It was a crinkled mess from being continually stuffed and taken out of his pocket, so he made a feckless attempt to smooth it out.  
  
Subaru cleared his throat.  
  
Seishiro turned around. He was wearing his eyeglasses and looked extremely intellectual and pretentious. With a nervous expression, Subaru handed him the small note and took a step back, not wanting to get too close. A few students filed in, rupturing the slight tension that was permeating from Subaru and Seishiro.  
  
"You may sit front row center," he said, then glanced at the note, "Subaru." With a smile he motioned towards the desk directly in front of him.  
  
As Subaru seated himself, he thought, So this is the way Seishiro wants it: we'll just pretend not the know each other. He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the top of the desk. Fine. We'll just forget everything that we've ever done together.  
  
By then, the bell had rung and most of the students were present in their seats, chatting quietly to each other. The majority of the girls were whispering and giggling, pointing at Seishiro. The boys appeared huffy, as if insulted by their new teacher's good looks. Though Seishiro appear inconspicuous to these proceedings, Subaru sensed that he knew it and was flattered.  
  
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Mr. Sakurazuka," he announced. "I will be your biology teacher for the remainder of the school year and hope you will show the same respect for me as you did for your previous teacher," he glanced at a notebook on his desk, "Mr. Weany."  
  
The class exploded in excessive laughter. Subaru didn't understand why.  
  
Seishiro smiled. "Well, scratch that thought. I expect that you will show me a great deal more respect than you did to your previous teacher." He glanced at his notebook again. "Junior class, right? Looks like you were starting to study the human circulatory system." Several students nodded. "Hm," Seishiro continued, looking at the class, "It appears that there's been a change in the curriculum." He gave a devilish grin. "The first unit I will be teaching you is," he paused, "the human reproductive system."  
  
All the boys gave each other high-fives and the girls giggled profusely. Subaru sat, confused. He had never really heard that weird before, let alone knew its meaning. Reproduce means multiply, he thought, or something like that. Multiply system? What the hell does…oh. He suddenly understood, blushing. He stared at Seishiro, thinking about how perverted and deviating he was. The unit change was not to better the education of the students, but to satisfy Seishiro's own sick mind.  
  
"Now," the teacher said, "everyone take out your notebooks and write down a few things that are associated with the reproductive system."  
  
Again, most of the class snickered. Subaru opened up his notebook noisily and whipped out a pencil. What a disgusting thing to do: ask the students to write down things about the reproductive system. He knew what they were all going to write down.  
  
"Hey, new kid," a rough looking youth whispered, leaning over towards Subaru, "how do you say 'penis' in Japanese?"  
  
Anyone within earshot broke out into sniggers and giggles. The person who asked kept an absolute straight face. Subaru's face turned red and he mumbled how he didn't know.  
  
"What?" another kid inquired. "Don't Japanese people have a word for that?"  
  
Subaru shrugged and turned so his back faced that student. Staring at his blank paper, he felt absolutely humiliated. He wondered in Seishiro did this to any of the other classes.  
  
"Okay," Seishiro broke the silence, "who wants to start? How about our new student? Subaru, will you come to the front of the room, please?"  
  
All eyes were fixed on Subaru, who had gone from bright red to pure white. He shook he head slightly, trying to indicate how he didn't want to say anything. Seishiro only smiled a wicked, mischievous smile. Subaru had no choice but to stand and go to the front of the classroom. He had no clue on how he would possibly respond to this little assignment.  
  
When he finally reached the front, he cleared his throat and began, "Well, one thing is, uh, how do you say? Oh, yeah, sex." (The class giggled.) "And love."  
  
"Anything else?" Seishiro questioned.  
  
Subaru faced Seishiro, his eyes drilling into him. In Japanese, he said, "What do you think you're doing? Why are you asking me to respond to your sick question?"  
  
Seishiro only smiled and said, in English, "Subaru doesn't know penis in English yet. That's what he's trying to say."  
  
Like a laugh track, the class exploded, guffawing like there was no tomorrow.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried.  
  
"What did he say?" the class inquired.  
  
"He said penis," Seishiro explained, smiling, "in Japanese." 


	4. Chapter 4

Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 4  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again, I am not racist, etc.  
  
WARNING: No warning this time. Everything's clean, more or less. Anyway, enjoy!  
  
Subaru began to walk home alone. Biology had turned out to be the most miserable 55 minutes of his life. After Seishiro had told everyone that bit of false information, the class would not stop pestering him. Plus, the moment he went out of the classroom, his classmates began telling other students, and those students told other students, and so on. By the time Subaru had exited the school, everyone knew, laughing at him as he passed.  
  
Someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"What now?" He turned to find none other than Hokuto.  
  
"Somebody's rude," she teased, giving a look of mock offense. Seeing that Subaru was not in the mood for joking, she put her arm around him and led him towards their house, which was only a few blocks away.  
  
"I'm sorry," Subaru said apologetically, "I'm just having a rough day."  
  
She nodded. "I know. The whole thing about you saying…"  
  
"Hokuto! You know I didn't!"  
  
Laughing, Hokuto said, "Oh, Subaru, don't be so humorless. By tomorrow, you'll probably be the only one who remembers that."  
  
Subaru looked down at his shiny, black shoes getting scuffed up by the dirt sidewalk. "I hope you're right."  
  
Soon, they arrived home, slipping off their shoes as they entered. Hokuto plopped her backpack down on the sofa and treated herself equally. Subaru merely walked steadily upstairs, claiming to have a lot of homework. In reality, he just wanted to be alone so he could contemplate about what he was going to say (or do) to Seishiro when he came home. He lay down on the bed, covering his face with his gloved hands. All he wanted to do break down and cry, pouring out the emotions he kept inside of him all day. The first day in a new school, in a new country, for that matter, and he blew it. He was the talk of the school in a very negative way and, if he knew teenagers, they would have aggravated the situation even more. He was ruined.  
  
Through all his thoughts about his social life, his professional life peeked through. He should not be worrying about how kids laugh at him, or how no one would ever befriend him after that situation, but what demons and spirits lurked amongst them. His grandmother told him there were many restless spirits active in this area. But he hadn't sensed a single specter around, and his sense was very acute. Did his grandmother send him to the US for no reason? That couldn't be the case.  
  
There was a gentle rapping at his door. He quickly sat up and instructed the person to enter. The knob turned slowly, then the door opened just a crack. Seishiro peeked in from the other side.  
  
"Can I come in?" he asked, smiling. Subaru folded his arms over his chest and looked away. He grumbled, "When did you get home?"  
  
Not waiting for his invitation, Seishiro flung the door open and entered. He walked nonchalantly to the bed and sat at its foot. He placed a hand on Subaru's leg and winked. Subaru scooted his leg away quickly, pulling his knees to his chest. Burying his mouth into his knees, he muttered, "What do you want?"  
  
Seishiro shrugged, looking at the wall. "Just wanted to ask you how your first day of school went."  
  
Subaru clenched sheets on his bed. "How could you ask that?" Subaru managed, trying to hold back the tears building up in his eyes. "You know how it went."  
  
Seishiro turned his head toward the window. Outside, in the street, three small children were playing hockey as orange, yellow, and red leaves whisked across the pavement, similarly to sakura flowing through the wind during springtime in Japan. Fall was a lovely season in Seishiro's mind. It was a time when living things were on the eve of death, ready and knowing that when the Reaper came to call, they would pass to the afterlife in such grace and color known as autumn.  
  
His attention returned to Subaru, who obviously knew that Seishiro was not paying attention to him.  
  
"Well?" Subaru said, impatiently.  
  
"Well what?" Seishiro questioned in simulated confusion.  
  
Subaru sprang out of bed and landed on the floor. "You're impossible!" he cried as he grabbed his jacket and shoes before storming out of the room. "Sometimes I hate you, Seishiro!" he called after him. "By the way you treat me, I'd say you are the sakurazukamori!"  
  
There was no response from the other.  
  
Subaru found himself in a small café in town. As he walked in, aromas of sweet, ambrosial coffee filled his nose and tickled his senses. This was quite delightful, calming his rage. He had left the house in a huff, Hokuto latching onto his heels, begging him to tell her what happened. After shaking her off, he ran to the center of town, seeking some sort of distraction and refuge. The coffee shop seemed to be both, just by the smell and the warmth inside.  
  
He stood in front of the counter, reading the menu behind the service lady with some difficulty.  
  
"What can I get you?" the woman asked, kindly.  
  
"I will have," he managed to say, his accent thicker than ever, "a mocha latte and one of those." He pointed a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie inside a glass case."  
  
The woman stated the cost, Subaru gave her a ten and told her to keep the change (he didn't understand what figure she told him), and he sat down at one of the small tables, where a newspaper sat. The title of the paper was "The New England Paranormal". Subaru picked it up, figuring it was one of those fake papers that mystic-wannabes read, but he began to read it anyway. He flipped through the pages (most of the articles were about werewolves) then stopped when he found a small article titled "The Middletown Ghost". It read:  
  
"In this sleepy New England town, a restless spirit haunts the night. It travels inconspicuously through the town, mainly around a run-down historical home, every night at midnight, temporarily possessing anything it can find: from cats to trees to people. Many locals have seen this specter, though none can prove its existence. 'I know it exists,' says local Mary Smith, 'and all I want is for this thing to go away so that we humble folk can live in peace.'"  
  
Subaru's face brightened. He could really distract himself from his social troubles by taking on this job, even if there was no money involved and it was probably a hoax. Plus, he'd be helping his town and maybe, just maybe, some one at school would find out that he saved his town from on evil spirit. But how could he get one of his classmates to see him exorcise the ghost? The answer walked right through the café's door.  
  
Maria, the extremely obese girl from his English as a second language class, waddled in the café, followed by two other Hispanic girls and one African-American girl. (Subaru had never seen so much racial diversity in his life.) They chatted lightheartedly, before ordering four low-fat cappuccinos and then sitting down two tables over from Subaru. Subaru swallowed a bit of his cookie and thought. He could ask Maria to take him to the run-down historical house, or at least ask her where it was. Deciding that was a good idea, he stood and walked over the their table. They continued to converse, taking no notice to Subaru's presence until he cleared his throat.  
  
They turned to him in unison, and Maria said, "What do you want?"  
  
Subaru fidgeted a little, then said, "You are Maria, right?"  
  
She nodded. Her friends stared at him curiously, their gold hoop earrings glistening under the light. The African-American girl gave him a friendly smile while the others looked at him suspiciously. The African- American girl was quite pretty, with pitch-black hair in tight curls, a light coat of makeup on her nicely proportioned face, and a trim body.  
  
"Um, hello," Subaru said to Maria and her friends.  
  
"Hi," the three Hispanic girls gave half-heartedly. The other girl pronounced a more pleasant "Hello."  
  
Subaru asked after a long pause, "Do you know where the…the" (his accent seemed thicker than ever) "the abandoned historical house is in this town?"  
  
All of the girls looked equally suspicious.  
  
"Why?" Maria inquired, frowning.  
  
"I," he started, but couldn't think of anything to say but "to find ghosts", which sounded really pathetic. He continued, "I was just wondering."  
  
The girls broke out into fits of giggles as Maria said something in Spanish. The African-American, however, give a tiny giggle, then said, "Do you mean the old Johnson place? I know where it is."  
  
"Really?" Subaru said, with some hope in his voice. "Can you tell me?"  
  
"Actually," she said, "I can take you there. My grandfather lives right across the street. I'm on my way over there right now. All I have to do is give this package to him" (she held up a small box wrapped in brown paper) "and then we can go over there."  
  
Subaru smiled as Maria said, "Alicia, what are you doing? This is the kid we were talking about."  
  
"I know," Alicia stated. "I don't care what he did, I just think that I should help someone who's new to this country by showing him our historical landmarks." She pointed at Maria. "You should know that part of being a good citizen is showing others how to be a good citizen."  
  
Maria sighed. "Fine, but remember…" (she said something in Spanish).  
  
Alicia rolled her eyes before turning to Subaru. "Come on, let's go." She strolled out the door, Subaru right behind her.  
  
"Thank you for helping me," Subaru said meekly.  
  
She walked next to him, smiling warmly. "It's no problem." She paused. "My name is Alicia Roberts. What's yours?"  
  
"Subaru Sumeragi," he said with more confidence. She seemed very friendly.  
  
"Sumeragi?" Alicia murmured.  
  
"Have you heard of my name?" he questioned.  
  
A slight look of panic struck her face. She collected herself again and said, "Oh, no. I just think that's a cool name."  
  
"Cool? Cold?"  
  
She threw her head back and laughed, ringlets of hair bouncing up and down like springs. "Not cool as in temperature. It's a slang word meaning good."  
  
"Oh." He felt so out of it socially.  
  
Placing her hand on his shoulder, she laughed again. "You'll get to know all of those words eventually. Don't worry."  
  
They walked down a side street surrounded by trees with multi-colored foliage. The road curved down hill, causing a pleasant walk as they chatted about each other; Subaru telling her about Tokyo and its contrast to Middletown, Alicia telling him about Middletown and its contrast to Tokyo. It turned out that Alicia, who had visited Tokyo and loved it, was a fan of anime and manga.  
  
When they arrived at her grandfather's house, it was already five o'clock and the sun was setting. It seemed darker out, though, considering the trees blocked the sun's rays. Her grandfather's house was a small, one- story house that was common in 1950's America. The yard wasn't well kept: leaves blanketed the lawn, hiding any sign of green grass and there was hardly any landscaping. When Alicia opened the front door, Subaru noticed that the shades over the window were drawn, causing the foyer to look dark and drab.  
  
"Grandpa!" Alicia called after instructing Subaru to come in.  
  
"What?" a tired voice cried from another room.  
  
"I brought that package you wanted," she informed him. "I'll just put it near the door."  
  
There was no answer.  
  
She leaned over and placed the parcel on the floor just beside the doorway. She stood up straight and waited for a few seconds before saying, with less volume than before, "Bye, Grandpa, I love you." 


	5. Chapter 5

More adventures in America! And I FINALLY updated! I'm so proud.  
  
Warning: There's some SubaruxSeishiro stuff, but not a lot. And there's a tad bit of violence, for once. Oh, and major OOCness. I don't know why I wrote it like this. OOCness from now on, probably.  
  
A/N: I am not a racist. Thank you.  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Subaru and Alicia stood outside the dilapidated manor known as the Johnson Place. There was neither glass on the windows nor a door in the doorway. The outside walls were covered in brown-green moss along side graffiti; the roof with all the shingles off, leaving only bare wood; and ancient, dead trees surrounded the house, threatening to teeter over, smashing what remained of this shamble.  
  
"Subaru," Alicia said, after they had stared at the house for awhile, "why did you want to come here?"  
  
"I wanted to," he said, then stopped himself. He wondered if he could tell Alicia about his curiosity about the ghost. Figuring he could trust her not to laugh, he said, "I'm interested in ghosts. I heard there was a ghost living here and wondered if I could see it."  
  
Subaru expected an eruption of laughter, realizing his wording was a bit awkward, but Alicia nodded.  
  
"That ghost has been haunting this place since my grandfather can remember," she informed him. "Some say a young man committed suicide after his bride-to-be fell ill and passed away in this house. Others say this is the place where a kind, old priest was murdered. But to tell you the truth, no one really knows what happened here. All we know is that this ghost possess people or animals or even things like cars every so often, causing quite a ruckus."  
  
Subaru nodded. With his mind, he searched the air for any paranormal disturbances. Nothing.  
  
"The ghost isn't here right now, it usually patrols Middletown during the late afternoon and night." Alicia stated, noticing Subaru's concentration. "Hey, you're divining for the ghost, aren't you?"  
  
Subaru stared at Alicia. Did he hear her correctly? Could she possibly know what he was doing? He shook his head quickly. "I just, uh, smelled something. Burning leaves, I think."  
  
The girl gave him a look of shock. Then smiled. "Good. I thought you were one of those weird psychics that come here, like, everyday seeking out the ghost." She laughed. "Grandpa hates them. He says this was the first piece of land a black man ever owned that was bigger than an acre." She made her voice rough, and with a fake Southern accent said, "No white man gonna scare my brother's soul from his home 'less that black man ain't black." She guffawed boisterously as she went back to her normal voice. "He's crazy, ya know."  
  
Subaru stood puzzled. "Black? White?"  
  
This time, she did laugh at him. "Oh, you have a lot to learn," she stated simply. "Wanna go inside the house?"  
  
Subaru nodded, following her through the doorway. The interior of the house was just as dingy as the exterior: there were numerous spider webs, dead leaves, and dust balls bigger than any Subaru had ever seen dangling from various places or gracing the smudged floor. There wasn't any furniture in the foyer or any of the other rooms except for a chair here and there. Similarly to the exterior, there was graffiti on the walls and floor, and in some rooms things left behind by people like garbage or clothing. Through it all, there wasn't one sign that there was a ghost living there.  
  
"Well, that concludes the grand tour of the house," Alicia said sarcastically as they made there way back to the foyer. She looked at Subaru curiously. "You haven't said one word this whole time."  
  
Subaru quickly thought of something to say. "Who was the last person to live here?" he asked.  
  
Alicia thought for a moment, then replied, "I think his name was Bradley Johnson. He was the last of the Johnson family here and died about forty or thirty years ago. And no one's lived here since."  
  
The other nodded. If there was a spirit here, he had been residing in the house for quite some time.  
  
Alicia looked at her watch. "I have to go. I have tons of homework." She paused to stare at Subaru thinking. "You better not stay here alone."  
  
"Right," Subaru agreed, even though he knew he could take care of himself. "Thank you for taking me here."  
  
She smiled. "You don't have to keep thanking me; it's no problem."  
  
Subaru grinned back as they exited the house and walked home their separate ways.  
  
However, Subaru didn't quite go home. He lingered a bit, stopping at a burger place for dinner and then to a movie. Even though doing all those things softened his anger towards Seishiro a bit, he still didn't have the will to face him.  
  
He was walking out of the movie theater when he was suddenly shoved to the ground, spilling the rest of the Junior Mints he hadn't quite finished. He turned to see who had pushed him and found himself face to face with four, beefy teenagers.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jap," one of the boys said sarcastically. "Didn't see ya there."  
  
The others laughed as Subaru stood, brushing himself off. The same kid pushed him back to the ground, this time a little rougher.  
  
"Gee, not again!" he exclaimed. "Please pardon my rudeness, slanty eyes."  
  
"Leave me alone," Subaru mumbled meekly as he stood and tried to walk away quickly.  
  
"Was that a threat?" a different boy asked, grabbing Subaru by the collar.  
  
"No," Subaru said plainly. He had never had to deal with bullies before and he was starting to get nervous. He knew very well that they not only out-numbered him, but also were better physical fighters and would surely, to put it simply, kick his ass.  
  
Another boy shoved Subaru against the wall of the movie theater. "You wanna fight?"  
  
"No!" Subaru said, his voice failing him.  
  
Suddenly, a fist came flying towards his nose, hitting him square on. The back of his head hit the hard brick as he cried out and held his nose with his hand. It was bleeding. Another kid kneed him in the gut, causing Subaru to curl over. He wanted to fight back, but he didn't know how. All his training had been to use psychic powers to fight and if he used them now, then they'd think he was a freak.  
  
"Yo, Jap!" the first kid called. "You're supposed to fight back."  
  
They all laughed as the third kid punched him in the nose again. More blood flowed from his nose as Subaru made a fist and sent a feeble punch in a random direction. The kids laughed some more then punched him in the eye, the stomach, and finally the mouth. Subaru wanted to collapse to the ground, but the boys wouldn't move to allow him to do so.  
  
"He's so stupid," the fourth kid stated. "What's his problem?"  
  
"He must be queer," the second boy answered as the others laughed and punched and kneed.  
  
Subaru tried to cover his face with his arms, but as soon as he did, they'd punch his torso. When he protected his torso, they hit his face. There was no winning.  
  
"Please, stop!" Subaru cried fecklessly, which only caused more laughter.  
  
But suddenly, one of the kids froze completely. There was a strange fear in his eyes, as if he had just been stabbed in the back by the sharpest and most accurate knife. The others stopped beating Subaru and turned to face the figure standing behind the boy who wasn't moving, large hands wrapped around the boy's neck.  
  
"Leave him alone," the figure said in a calm, but forceful voice.  
  
"He started it," one of the boys complained. They all scattered.  
  
Subaru's eyes were so swollen, so he couldn't see the figure clearly, only as a shadow.  
  
"Are you alright, Subaru?" the figure asked gently, his voice deep and soothing, like a calm in a storm.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried and collapsed into his arms, burying his face into Seishiro's clean, white shirt.  
  
Tears and blood soaked the older man's clothes as he delicately held Subaru, stroking his head and soothing him. "You're alright now," he said reassuringly. "I'm here."  
  
All Subaru could do was cry as Seishiro lifted him up and carry him to his parked car. He opened the back left door and placed Subaru on the seat.  
  
"Tell me what hurts," Seishiro inquired, looking over Subaru's face.  
  
"My nose, my jaw, my eye," Subaru gasped through tears. "My stomach, too."  
  
Seishiro nodded and pressed his thumb against Subaru's nose. "It's not broken, but it will be swollen for a few days. Same goes for the majority of your face."  
  
This only made Subaru cry louder, catching the attention of a few people. But Subaru didn't care if he was acting like a little boy and making a scene; this had not been his day at all. Sure, he was crying because he had just been beaten up, but he was also crying out the frustration of a terrible day.  
  
"Hush, now," Seishiro ordered. "I'm going to take you home and we'll get some ice."  
  
Subaru nodded and closed the car door. Seishiro got into the driver's seat and began to drive to their house.  
  
"Oh, my God!" Hokuto exclaimed as Subaru walked in, his face now bruising and swelling. "What the #@&* happened?"  
  
"No need for that kind of language," Seishiro said, leading Subaru to the couch. "Just get him some ice."  
  
Hokuto rushed to the kitchen yelling, "Who did that to you? I'll kill them! Anyone who hurts my baby brother's gonna die!"  
  
"I'm not your baby brother," Subaru tried to say, but his mouth was so swollen, it was difficult.  
  
Hokuto placed an ice pack on Subaru's face as Seishiro explained.  
  
"Oh!" Hokuto cried out in disgust. "I'm gonna kill them!" She began to strangle an invisible bully with her hands.  
  
"Wait," Subaru said with a lisp, "how'd you know all that?"  
  
Seishiro seemed startled at first, then smiled meekly. "I was watching."  
  
Subaru sprung up, causing his hurt abdomen to jump and pang some more. "You were watching the whole time?"  
  
Seishiro shrugged. "Maybe. I can't remember."  
  
Hokuto slapped Seishiro in the face. "How could you? Why didn't you stop it?"  
  
"I thought Subaru could handle it," Seishiro said, rubbing his now red cheek.  
  
Subaru clenched his fists with rage, his whole face throbbing with pain and anger. "Not only did you embarrass me today," he began, his voice shaking with fury, "but you also sat back and watched those kids beat me up?"  
  
Seishiro smiled. "Was that wrong?"  
  
Subaru threw the ice pack to he ground and lunged himself at Seishiro. He began to hit him with his fists, screaming how he hated Seishiro while Hokuto begged for him to stop. But suddenly, Seishiro grabbed Subaru around the neck and pinned him down to the couch. His hands were rapped around Subaru's neck so tightly, he could have easily strangled him or broken his neck.  
  
"Seishiro, no!" Hokuto cried, tears running down her cheeks. "Don't do it! He didn't mean any of it!"  
  
Seishiro's eyes seemed permanently fixed on Subaru's. He seemed angry, but sad at the same time, as if doubting Subaru's actions.  
  
"Don't ever do that again," Seishiro said firmly. He was on top of the younger man, each leg on either side Subaru's body.  
  
Subaru's eyes were flooded with tears of guilt, hate, fear, and sorrow. He felt bad for acting that way, but he was still angry with Seishiro for what he did. He was also afraid of Seishiro's giant hands clasped firmly around his neck, threatening to kill him if he wanted to. But he was most of all sad that this was happening between the two lovers, this sudden outburst of hatred and anger.  
  
"Oh, Seishiro," Subaru whispered through sobbing, "I'm sorry. Forgive me, please."  
  
Seishiro relaxed his grip slightly, but still kept it. He leaned down slowly so his nose was but a centimeter away from Subaru's. As he stayed that way for awhile, Hokuto begged even more for Seishiro to stop, saying he was scaring her. He ignored her as he tenderly kissed Subaru on the cheek.  
  
When he got off of Subaru and stood, brushing himself off, he said, "I'm sorry, too."  
  
Hokuto was ready to pounce on him, but Subaru just sat up and continued sobbing in his hands.  
  
"I just assumed the Thirteenth Head of the Sumeragi Clan could handle himself in a situation like that," Seishiro stated, talking more to Hokuto than Subaru.  
  
"You know he can't use his onmyoujitsu in front of normal people!" Hokuto exclaimed furiously. "And he doesn't know any physical self-defense!"  
  
Suddenly, Seishiro really did appear to be sorry. His eyes grew sad, as if they were about to cry, and his whole body seemed to sag with despair. "My Subaru," he whispered, seating himself next to Subaru. "This will never happen again, I swear on my life." He placed an arm around Subaru's shoulder and with the other hand brought the young onmyouji's hand to his mouth and kissed it.  
  
Subaru stopped crying and looked up at Seishiro. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You shouldn't be sorry," Seishiro stated. "I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't realize how vulnerable and delicate you are. You're no fighter, but a lover." He smiled reassuringly.  
  
"Thank you," Subaru murmured, embracing Seishiro tightly.  
  
"It will never happen again," Seishiro whispered.  
  
Hokuto wiped a tear from her eye. "This is so beautiful!" she cried, hugging them both. "I love you guys!" She let them go. "Subaru, you have some cuts on your face. Let me clean them, okay?"  
  
Subaru nodded and followed her to the bathroom where there were bandages. Seishiro watched and waited for them to be out of earshot before he said, "Gullible."  
  
To be continued… 


	6. Chapter 6

Um, can't write summary. Exhausted creative skill.  
  
A/N: Yaoi, of course. Um…that's all.  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Subaru went to school the next day with bruises, bumps, and scrapes. Many kids starred, recognizing the classic scars of battle, but didn't say anything other than an occasional wince of pity. Subaru felt ashamed that he had been beaten so badly after his first day at a new school, but soon discovered that this had happened to many new students, learning that it is a right of passage.  
  
"Oh, no," Miss Winters cried upon seeing Subaru's face. "They did it to you too? I'm so sorry. Do you know who the boys were?"  
  
Subaru mumbled "no" and took his seat next to Maria, who sniggered at him. Subaru ignored her, but couldn't help but feel a little hurt. How could a girl so mean be friends with the extremely friendly Alicia? It didn't make sense to him.  
  
"Okay, everyone," Miss Winters called the class to order after the bell rang. "It's pop quiz time!" She cheerily began passing out papers as the students groaned and cursed in their native languages.  
  
Subaru looked over his paper quickly. It was about classroom things and different classes. He smiled to himself, confident that he knew all of this. The first question asked to list his different classes in English. Easy. He wrote down ESL, pre-calculus, biology, gym, US history, and art. The next question asked for him to label the various drawings on the paper. Easy. He wrote pencil, notebook, desk, and so on next to the designated picture. That was the end. Subaru placed his pencil down carefully on his desk and sat back, assured that he got a hundred on that easier than easy test.  
  
"Pencils down, please," Miss Winters said, smiling warmly. "I hope you all did well."  
  
Subaru nodded. So what if his social life was less than satisfactory at his new school? At least he'd be in high academic standing. Isn't that what school's all about?  
  
"What did you put for number seven?" Maria asked dryly, her English poor at best.  
  
"Pen," Subaru answered in a hush voice so Miss Winters wouldn't think he was helping Maria cheat. "Why?"  
  
"That is what I put," she said, then turned to her friend and told her. Her friend, in turn, faced another girl and relayed the message. Subaru sat confused, but not entirely interested in what they were doing.  
  
Finally, after several minutes, Maria turned back to him. "We all put 'pen'," she told him. "Remember that."  
  
"Ok," Subaru said, thinking this to be very curious. After a moment, he forgot about it and turned to the teacher, who was explaining the difference between a book and a novel.  
  
It was lunchtime and Subaru sat in the cafeteria alone with his lunchbox. He noticed that many kids bought lunch from school and if they did bring it from home, it was in a brown, paper bag. He took note of that.  
  
"Subaru!" someone called from a few yards away. It was Hokuto. She half skipped, half walked over to him and gave him a big hug.  
  
"Hello, Hokuto," Subaru greeted, glad to see a familiar face.  
  
She seated herself next to him and whipped out her lunch. "So, how's everything today? Anyone pick on you? 'Cause you know what I'll do to them…"  
  
Subaru shook his head. "No," he replied. "Everything's fine. How about you?"  
  
She began to ramble on about her day, only pausing to take bites of food.  
  
"…so that's how I met Pat," she finished, five minutes before the bell was supposed to ring.  
  
"Interesting," Subaru said politely, with a smile.  
  
She frowned. "Yeah, right. You weren't listening to a word I was saying!"  
  
"I was too!" Subaru defended.  
  
She leaped up and glomped him. "I know," she said. "You're the best brother in the world."  
  
There were several people staring and pointing, many confused as to who these nearly identical people were and why they were talking so quickly in Japanese.  
  
"Am I interrupting something?" someone said from behind the twins.  
  
Subaru and Hokuto turned to find Alicia, smiling broadly.  
  
"Hello, Alicia," Subaru greeted with an equally broad smile and a blush.  
  
"Who's this?" she asked, referring to Hokuto with a friendly smile.  
  
Hokuto glared at her, eyes narrowed and ready to be catty. "I am Subaru's long lost twin sister, Hokuto," she said sarcastically. "We were separated at birth. I was shipped here while Subaru stayed in Tokyo. We just met fifteen minutes ago."  
  
Alicia laughed while Subaru protested that Hokuto shouldn't joke around like that.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Hokuto," Alicia said, bowing respectfully.  
  
"Well, I'd like to say the same," Hokuto replied mockingly, not bothering to acknowledge the bow. "But I can't."  
  
Alicia appeared offended momentarily, but decided it would be wise to ignore Hokuto's rude comment. "Subaru, I need to talk to you for a moment."  
  
"Okay," Subaru said. "Could you excuse us for a moment, Hokuto?"  
  
His sister seemed offended. "There's nothing you can say in front of Subaru that you can't say in front of me, little missy."  
  
Alicia frowned and shot a glance at Subaru as if to ask, "What's with her?", but didn't say anything.  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru protested. "Be polite. And please leave for a minute."  
  
Hokuto grumbled and walked away quickly.  
  
Alicia sighed. "Um," she began, as if she were to ask about Hokuto, but instead said, "When are you going to go back to the Johnson Place."  
  
Subaru quickly took on his business persona. "I'm not sure. I'd like to go there tonight."  
  
"Alright," she said, pondering a moment. "I'll go with you. It'll be better to go ghost hunting with someone else, you know, just in case."  
  
Subaru reluctantly agreed. He wanted to be able to use his onmyoujitsu to its full extent, but couldn't with someone else there, let alone a person who didn't know about exorcisms. But as Subaru thought further, he realized that Alicia might know something about it. She had known he was divining for ghosts, but he couldn't be certain she had a sixth sense about those kinds of things.  
  
"Great," she said. "I'll meet you there around 8:30."  
  
Subaru nodded with a smile. Maybe, since she knew about the house, she could help him in some way.  
  
"8:30 it is," she said, grinning. "It's a date." She walked away.  
  
Subaru watched her go as Hokuto crept up to the table. She then pounced on him and shook him violently.  
  
"What does she mean by 'It's a date'?" she inquired.  
  
"I don't know," Subaru managed to say through Hokuto's sudden violent actions. "It's a certain time so that makes it a 'date', right?"  
  
Hokuto stopped jolting him and sat back down. "No, Subaru. A 'date' in English means you're going out with someone. You know, a romantic date."  
  
Subaru furrowed his brow and blushed. "No," he defended. "She doesn't mean it like that."  
  
Nodding, Hokuto said, "Oh yes she does." She then buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. "You're cheating on Seishiro. How do I tell him? He'll be heart broken."  
  
"Oh, no," Subaru protested. "I'd never cheat of Seishiro."  
  
"But you are if you go out with that tramp," Hokuto replied, stilling sobbing.  
  
"She's not a tramp," Subaru said.  
  
Hokuto lifted up her head and began to wail. "You're defending her! That means you like her. And if you like her, you'll soon love her. If you love her, there will be no room in your heart for Seishiro."  
  
Subaru began to panic. "But I don't like her like that," he said. "I only have room in my heart for Seishiro."  
  
"What does that mean?" Hokuto asked, wiping her eyes.  
  
"It means I only love Seishiro," Subaru sputtered out, blushing bright red.  
  
Hokuto let out a squeal of glee. "You love Seishiro!" She hugged him. "This is wonderful. I can't wait to plan the wedding."  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru cried, covering his face so that the people who had been watching this scene couldn't see his now crimson complexion.  
  
Again, it was the end of the day and time for biology. Subaru had made up with Seishiro, but still had some bitter feelings towards him. However, he managed to push those feelings aside because Seishiro was being friendlier towards him, although they were continuing their study of the human reproductive system.  
  
"First off, we're going to study meiosis," he said very scientifically. He was dressed in his typical business suit and wearing his ever-so intellectual glasses. Many girls were paying more attention to Seishiro's looks than the lessons, which was mainly scientific mumbo-jumbo to them. This angered Subaru, who felt that their attempts at catching Seishiro's attention were lewd; they were wearing extra tight pants and low-cut blouses that exposed their cleavage. Seishiro completely ignored them, for he kept a completely straight [A/N: Not really 'straight'] face throughout his entire lesson.  
  
"So for homework," Seishiro said after concluding his lesson, "I'd like you to read chapter three, take notes, and answer the questions at the end." The bell rang. All the boys stood and left (except Subaru, of course), while the girls remained. Seishiro continued, "Could you tell the gentlemen we might have a quiz tomorrow?"  
  
"Of course, Mr. Sakurazuka," the girls chimed in unison.  
  
"Thank you, girls," Seishiro said with a smile. "You may be dismissed."  
  
They were all giggling and blushing as they bustled out, whispering to each other. Some said nervous good-byes while Seishiro smiled at them flirtatiously, taking off his glasses and watching them go. Subaru, however, remained in his seat.  
  
"Seishiro," Subaru said through clenched teeth.  
  
Seishiro ignored him for a moment, sighing and erasing the chalk board before saying, "Yes, my sweet?"  
  
"What was that?" Subaru asked.  
  
The other turned, smiling pleasantly. "I was just humoring the girls." He faced the chalkboard again and finished erasing it.  
  
"They'll get the wrong impression," Subaru stated, gathering his books and standing.  
  
"Ah, let them have their fun," Seishiro requested. "Let them dream." He laughed. "I can't believe I'm so popular with the ladies here. You're not jealous are you, Subaru dear?"  
  
Subaru blushed, realizing his resentfulness. "Well…" Subaru said, doubting his ability to lie.  
  
Seishiro walked over to Subaru and put his hands on his shoulders. He leaned over his face and whispered, "You shouldn't. You know you're the only one I'll ever love." He leaned even closer, ready to kiss him.  
  
"I know," Subaru said almost inaudibly. His whole body went limp as Seishiro pulled him closer, kissing his cheek. He was about to move his mouth to Subaru's neck, when he suddenly backed away and walked to his desk.  
  
"What…" Subaru began, but the answer soon came. A teacher walked into the classroom and handed Seishiro some papers, explaining something about a teacher meeting.  
  
Subaru stood absolutely still, a look of guilt strewn across his face. If the teacher had walked in while Seishiro was kissing him, Subaru didn't know what would have happened.  
  
The teacher started to leave then stopped and chuckled. "You shouldn't play with chalk while wearing black, son," he said, pointing at Subaru's shirt. On his shoulders, there were white chalk handprints, Seishiro's hand prints. He blushed as he desperately tried to wipe them off. The teacher seemed puzzled at Subaru's strange reaction and left quickly.  
  
"That was close," Subaru sighed when the teacher was well out of the classroom, leaning on the desk.  
  
Seishiro nodded. "There's some incriminating evidence that could have gotten us into trouble," he said with a laugh. "Not that I'd care who knew about our relationship."  
  
Subaru blushed, but agreed anyway.  
  
"Come on," Seishiro said, picking up his briefcase, "I'll drive you home."  
  
To be continued… 


	7. Chapter 7

Ack, this chapter's kind of pathetic. OOCness, again. This kinda sucks.  
  
A/N: The one thing I do like about this chapter is the little dirtier-than- usual innuendo I placed so conveniently in here. Yaoi, but do I need to tell you that?  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Ta da!" Hokuto exclaimed, presenting the dinner she had just prepared. "Traditional American cuisine: hot dogs and hamburgers!" She gave each plate a hot dog and a hamburger.  
  
Seishiro smiled. "They look delicious, Hokuto," he said  
  
"Thank you," she said in English. She seated herself next to Seishiro.  
  
Seishiro took the hot dog out of the bun. "Subaru, remind you of anything?" He placed one end of the hot dog in his mouth and smiled alluringly  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried as Hokuto howled with laughter.  
  
"I'm sorry," Seishiro said, taking the hot dog out of his mouth. "That wasn't very tasteful." When Subaru relaxed a bit, Seishiro quickly bit off the end of dog and cried, "Ouch!" He and Hokuto giggled and then Hokuto moved on to talk about her day.  
  
Subaru glanced at his watch. It was 8:15. He figured it would take him fifteen minutes to get to the Johnson Place, so he had better leave immediately if he wanted to be on time.  
  
"Hokuto," Subaru said, "I'm very sorry, but I have to get to a job."  
  
The girl nearly choked on her hamburger. "What? You little liar! You're going on a date."  
  
Before Subaru could protest, Seishiro turned to him, looking hurt. "A date? With someone else?" he asked in a pathetic, but not real, voice.  
  
"No!" Subaru answered. "It's a job, I assure you."  
  
"What kind of job?" Seishiro asked, putting the hotdog back in his mouth, smiling and winking.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried, blushing profusely. "Not that! I'm exorcising this house. Supposedly the ghost has been possessing random people."  
  
After taking the hotdog out of his mouth, Seishiro's face became serious. "I see," he said, thinking.  
  
"Yeah, right," Hokuto tested. "You're seeing that girl. What's her name?"  
  
"I'm not going there to see Alicia," Subaru stated. "She's going to help me find the ghost because she knows it better than I do."  
  
Hokuto completely ignored his reasoning. "Ugh!" she cried. "I can't believe you're cheating on Seishiro."  
  
"I am not!" Subaru objected.  
  
Seishiro spoke, "Why don't I come along?"  
  
Hokuto smiled sinisterly. "Yes, then you won't be going on a date with that little girl."  
  
"I wasn't going to 'date' her!" Subaru said. "And I want Seishiro to come with me."  
  
Seishiro smiled. "Good, but let's finish our dinner first, shall we?"  
  
"Then we'll be late," Subaru informed.  
  
Hokuto shrugged. "Boo hoo, so that chick has to wait an extra fifteen minutes. I didn't slave over a hot stove all day for you to get up and leave this delicious and nutritious all-American meal!" She stuffed her hamburger in her mouth like a wild dog.  
  
Subaru rolled his eyes and began to eat while Seishiro continued to make inappropriate gestures with the hot dog.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Subaru apologized to Alicia, who was standing outside the house in a large coat.  
  
"That's alright," she said with a smile. "You're not that late." She then noticed Seishiro. "Hello."  
  
Seishiro smiled warmly. "You must be Alicia," he said, shaking her hand. "I'm Seishiro Sakurazuka, Subaru's…"  
  
"He's going to help me," Subaru interrupted before Seishiro could say anything that might be dirty.  
  
"Good," she said. "We could always use help when finding ghosts. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sakurazuka." She paused. "Interesting name."  
  
"Thank you," Seishiro said, rather abruptly. "Why don't you two go inside? I'll survey things out here."  
  
"But…" Subaru began, but then remembered Seishiro was more of an observer than anything else, so he agreed.  
  
Alicia and Subaru walked into the house. The girl took a flashlight out of her coat and shone it in the foyer. It was exactly the same as it was the previous day, which wasn't surprising.  
  
"Subaru," Alicia said, "um, you live with Seishiro?"  
  
Subaru nodded, but began psychically searching the house for any signs of the paranormal.  
  
Alicia looked around the house nervously. "Oh," she replied. "With your sister?"  
  
"Yes," Subaru answered, still searching.  
  
"Okay," was all she said for awhile, then continued. "What's his relation to you?"  
  
"Just a friend," Subaru responded, blushing.  
  
Alicia sighed for a moment. "Good," she said. When Subaru gave her a confused look, she said, "I mean, cool. It's cool that your friend got to come here with you. Hey, he's the new teacher at the school, isn't he?"  
  
Subaru nodded.  
  
"Interesting," she said and was silent again for awhile.  
  
Though curious as to what Alicia was getting at, Subaru knew he had a job to do. He continued his divination for ghosts quietly without Alicia questioning him, but didn't sense a single, bodiless soul.  
  
"There's nothing here," Subaru said. "Nothing paranormal, anyway."  
  
"Really?" Alicia questioned. "Do you think this whole haunting thing was all just a big hoax?"  
  
Subaru scratched his chin. "Afraid so," he said, then shook his head. "I mean, I would have been able to sense at least some traces of a spirit."  
  
"You can sense spirits?" Alicia asked.  
  
Subaru's heart nearly stopped. He hadn't been careful. Now she knew he had psychic abilities and would think he was weird or worse, report him to that stupid paranormal newspaper.  
  
She smiled. "Don't worry," she assured, "you're secret's safe with me. I assume Seishiro and Hokuto know?"  
  
Subaru nodded. "Yes," he answered. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I…"  
  
"It's alright," she said. "I understand."  
  
With a smile, Subaru thanked her and they exited the house. Outside, there was no sign of Seishiro.  
  
"Where is he?" Alicia asked. "We better tell him there's nothing here."  
  
Subaru looked around and saw a figure leaning against a large, oak tree, it's leaves still intact, but browning. It was too dark to see who the figure was clearly, but Subaru knew it was Seishiro.  
  
"Seishiro," he called, walking towards him. "I think this whole thing is a hoax, so let's go home. Seishiro?"  
  
The man made no response, just continued to lean against the tree. Though he was still far away, Subaru could hear him breathing heavily.  
  
"Seishiro?" Subaru said, starting to become frightened by Seishiro's strange behavior. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Go home," Seishiro ordered, his voice shaking. Subaru couldn't see him, but he knew the man was trying to smile.  
  
"Not without you," Subaru stated. "Tell me what's wrong."  
  
By now, Alicia was standing by Subaru's side. She whipped out her flashlight and shone it on Seishiro. Subaru gasped. The man was standing against the tree, hunched over, clutching his arm. Beads of sweat trickled down his face, which had an expression of severe pain.  
  
"Seishiro!" Subaru cried and began to run towards him, but Alicia held him back.  
  
"Oh, my God," Alicia said, holding Subaru's arm. "This is the same as all the others."  
  
"What do you mean?" Subaru asked, his eyes full of panic.  
  
Alicia stared at Seishiro. "All the others who were possessed. Extreme pain, sweating; next he'll go crazy."  
  
"No!" Subaru cried, getting himself free of the girl's grasp and running to Seishiro.  
  
"Subaru," Seishiro murmured, his voice shaking even more, "go home now, before anything happens."  
  
"I can't," Subaru said. "I have to exorcise that demon out of you."  
  
Seishiro shook his head. He then moved his hand away from his arm to expose a dart planted firmly in his skin. Subaru gasped.  
  
"You can't help me," he informed. "There's no demon here, but someone is shooting these darts."  
  
Alicia cried, "No! Not those! Please say he's not the one…"  
  
Before she could finish, Seishiro collapsed on the ground, panting desperately for breath. Subaru tried to right him up, but the man was too heavy for his weak arms.  
  
"Seishiro!" he called. "Speak to me!"  
  
This had never happened before. It was usually Subaru who fainted and Seishiro who had to save him. Subaru was so unaccustomed to this, he began to panic, desperately trying to shake Seishiro awake. But Alicia pulled on Subaru's jacket.  
  
"We have to go right now!" Alicia exclaimed. "That dart has a drug in it that is designed to make a person go temporarily crazy. If we don't get out of here soon, I don't know what will happen."  
  
"But…" Subaru protested, cradling Seishiro's head.  
  
"No time for that!" Alicia cried and dragged Subaru away from Seishiro.  
  
To be continued… 


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter's short because I got tired with the plot. Tee hee. No incest in this one! Surprised?  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 8  
  
They sat inside the café where they had met. Subaru was about to burst into tears, but Alicia tried to assure him that Seishiro would be alright.  
  
"That drug will wear off in a few hours," Alicia said.  
  
"How do you know?" Subaru asked, trying not to cry out of fear for Seishiro's life.  
  
She looked down shamefully. "Because my grandfather made those darts."  
  
Subaru gasped. "What?"  
  
She nodded. "He's a 'voodoo scientist' of sorts. He makes concoctions that will supposedly enhance ones ability to communicate with the gods." She paused. "But if a non-believer uses that drug, he will go mad for a few hours. I know this because my grandfather used the darts on lab rats, who went utterly insane for a few hours."  
  
"And that's why it seemed that people were possessed around that house," Subaru concluded. "But why would your grandfather do such a thing?"  
  
A few tears began to well up in her eyes. "He hates non-believers," she said plainly, crinkling a napkin that was lying on the table. "That's the only reason I can think of. He wants them to stay away, so I guess he scares them by drugging some people every once in a while." She put her face in her hands and began to weep.  
  
Subaru put a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Please don't cry," he said softly. "But I'm afraid we have to report him to the police."  
  
She nodded and they exited the café, heading towards the police station.  
  
"Seishiro got drugged by Alicia's grandfather?" Hokuto questioned when Subaru arrived home in the wee hours of the morning.  
  
"Yes," Subaru replied with a nod. "And luckily there was enough evidence in her grandfather's house to prove it and make his arrest." He sighed and plopped himself down on the coach.  
  
"I knew that girl was trouble," Hokuto commented. But when she saw Subaru's forlorn face, she sat next to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "It's not her fault, though. I mean, she didn't know."  
  
"No," Subaru replied. "It isn't. Still, she feels responsible for her grandfather. He is a really old man and probably not all there."  
  
Hokuto agreed, then her expression went to that of shock. "Hey! What happened to Seishiro?"  
  
"Alicia said he'll be 'in his right mind' in a few hours," he answered. "But it's been about six hours since he was drugged; he should be fine right now." He scratched his chin. "Where is he?"  
  
The answer came walking through the door a few seconds later. Seishiro entered, his tie missing, his pants and shirt grass stained, and stray blades of grass sticking out of his hair. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them, and his expression looked totally miserable.  
  
Hokuto hopped up and ran to him. "Seishiro! You look awful!"  
  
Seishiro plucked a piece of grass out of his hair and replied, "Well, I've had better nights." He walked over to Subaru, sat down next to him, and asked, "What happened?"  
  
Subaru couldn't help but laugh. "I'll tell you in the morning."  
  
To be continued… 


	9. Chapter 9

This is just a silly chapter I thought up out of the blue. No yaoi again. Surprised?  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Subaru sat in ESL utterly exhausted. He went to bed at around four and woke up and six the next morning. Everyone knows a teenager need at least six hours of sleep in order to be fully functional in the morning, not to mention look fully functional. Not only did Subaru still have the various bruises from two nights ago, but now he had a sleepy, groggy expression on his face.  
  
"I graded your quizzes from yesterday," Miss Winters informed the class with a smile. "I'm so proud of everyone. You're all progressing nicely." She began to pass out the papers.  
  
Subaru smiled. He knew he got almost all the questions right on that extremely easy quiz and he was glad he'd have some happy news today; it might be the only happy news today. He had to wonder if Alicia was alright and if he could talk to her. After all, she was probably very downhearted about her grandfather.  
  
"Very nice, Subaru," Miss Winters said as she gave Subaru his paper, face down. "Especially for your first quiz in ESL."  
  
"Thank you," Subaru replied, smiling. When she walked away, he turned over his paper, expecting an excellent mark. Instead, he found his paper saturated with red ink and a giant 'F' in the upper-right hand corner. His face went totally pale. How could he have received such a lousy mark? His English wasn't that bad and he had been confident he had gotten something better.  
  
"What did you get for number seven?" Maria, who was still sitting next to him, asked.  
  
Subaru slumped in his chair with shame. "Pen, but I got in wrong," he mumbled.  
  
"That's very interesting," she replied. "Everyone in the class got 'pen' for number seven, yet only thirteen of the twenty-one of us got it marked wrong."  
  
Subaru cocked an eyebrow, suddenly curious. "Really?"  
  
The girl nodded. "And everyone failed, too."  
  
Subaru found this very interesting. Miss Winters had told him he had done a good job, yet he failed, which definitely wasn't a good job. Plus, everyone in the class couldn't possibly have failed. Subaru told this to Seishiro after school.  
  
"Really?" Seishiro questioned, though not entirely interested.  
  
"Don't you find it strange?" Subaru asked. "Here, look at the quiz." He handed the paper to Seishiro, who read it with raised eyebrows.  
  
"You should have gotten an 86, which is a 'B'," Seishiro stated. "I think I'll have a talk with this teacher."  
  
"Right now?" Subaru asked.  
  
Seishiro nodded. "No better time then the present. Let's go."  
  
Seishiro entered Miss Winter's room alone. He felt it best to confront her alone because she might think he was using Subaru to soften her.  
  
"Miss Winters?" Seishiro asked, seeing a kind-looking woman busily grading papers at her desk with a red pen.  
  
"Yes?" she said, looking up from her work to give Seishiro a smile.  
  
"Hello," he greeted politely, extending a hand for her to shake it, "I'm Seishiro, the new biology teacher."  
  
"Ah, yes," she said, standing and shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm glad they've gotten a new biology teacher. That old one was…" she shook her head, remembering that teachers shouldn't talk about other teachers behind their back, "…never mind."  
  
Seishiro smiled. "Thank you."  
  
"What could I do for you?" Miss Winters asked with a charming smile.  
  
The man cleared his throat. "One of my students is concerned about your grading, let's say, style." He showed her the test. "Now, I know English isn't my first language, but some of the questions you marked wrong are actually correct."  
  
She took to test from his hand and read each question and answer, following along with her pen. "No," she replied, though politely, "all the ones I marked wrong are wrong. I'm sorry, but couldn't you point out something specifically."  
  
Before Seishiro could do that, Miss Winters hiccuped, dropping her pen to the ground. She excused herself as Seishiro bent over to pick it up. While it was in his hand, he paused for a moment, examined the pen, and then handed it back to her.  
  
"Do you always use that pen?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. "You might say it's my lucky pen," she said with a smile.  
  
Seishiro grinned as well, then glanced at his watch. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, snatching the test back, "but I must be leaving now. Thank you for your time."  
  
With a puzzled expression, she replied, "Um, no problem."  
  
Seishiro quickly exited the classroom.  
  
Subaru was waiting patiently in the hall. When Seishiro was out of the classroom, Subaru went up to him and asked, "Well? What did she say?"  
  
Seishiro didn't say anything as they walked down the hall, outside, and into his car. Also, they drove home in silence, which made Subaru anxious as to what his teacher had said. However, he did not inquire what it was again, for Seishiro seemed deep in thought. When they arrived home, Seishiro finally responded.  
  
"It's the pen," he said nonchalantly, placing his briefcase in the den.  
  
"The pen?" Subaru questioned. "You mean the red pen? How could that be?"  
  
"You know very well that it is easy for almost anyone to put curses on simple objects," Seishiro stated. "Someone must have put a curse on Miss Winters' pen."  
  
Subaru found this hard to believe, but Seishiro wouldn't lie. However, as he thought of it further, he realized it was possible. The only thing was knowing whom the cursor was- specifically if it was Miss Winters- and why they did it. Subaru expressed his concern to Seishiro.  
  
"It is very curious why someone would curse a pen to grade so harshly," Seishiro said, thinking deeply. "But that doesn't really matter. You just have to get that pen and exorcise it"  
  
Subaru sighed. "That should be easy enough," he stated. "I've never exorcised a pen though."  
  
Seishiro laughed. "The great Thirteenth Head of the Sumeragi Clan has been reduced to exorcising writing utensils."  
  
Blushing with shame, Subaru replied, "How humiliating."  
  
The next day was all planned out. First, he would go up to Miss Winters' desk, take the pen when she wasn't looking, and replace it with a similar one. Then, after class, he'd go into one of the boys' bathrooms, exorcise the pen, dispose of it just in case, and go to his next class. It was plain and simple, easy and quick. He couldn't have asked for a simpler job.  
  
"Miss Winters?" Subaru asked, walking up to her desk.  
  
She smiled broadly. "Yes, Subaru?"  
  
He saw the red pen situated firmly in her hand.  
  
"Could you write something on the board for me, please?" he asked.  
  
"Sure," she responded, standing from her desk, pen still in hand.  
  
"Um," he said, thinking of something quickly while wishing she'd put the pen down, "how do you spell 'random'?"  
  
She quickly wrote the word on the board with her right hand, the pen in her left. "Here you are," she said, pointing to the word. "Just sound it out. Ran-dom."  
  
"Thank you," Subaru mumbled, going back to his seat.  
  
Subaru noticed that when she taught her lesson, the pen sat quietly and innocently on the desk while she wrote various things on the chalkboard. If Subaru could think of a reason to go to her desk and snatch the pen…He suddenly noticed the box of tissues on the desk. He got up, the decoy in hand, and walked to the desk. No one paid any attention to him, so he grabbed a tissue, pretending to blow his nose. Quickly, he snatched the pen, placed it in his pocket, and replaced it on the desk with the decoy. He hurried back to his desk, congratulating himself on successfully completing objective one of his job.  
  
While Miss Winters was lecturing, Subaru examined the pen. It looked normal, just like any other pen. However, he felt a strange aura around it, something evil, but nonetheless weak. He knew it would be an easy exorcism and he was content with that.  
  
The bell soon rang and Subaru bolted out of the classroom to the nearest boys' room, where it would be easier to do an exorcism because of the privacy. There was no one there, so he went ahead and started. He chanted a few incantations softly. Suddenly, the pen started shaking, slightly at first, then violently. Subaru stared as the pen practically jumped from its position on the bathroom floor. He tried to grab it, but it quickly bounced away, hit the wall, and broke. Sighing, Subaru picked up the pieces and started to position them for the exorcism. But before he could do that, mist emitted from the pen and created a formation.  
  
"Do your homework, study for your test, you're a failure," the formation said.  
  
Quickly, Subaru chanted a few spells, but the apparition was now shouting.  
  
"You should have studied! This is so horrible, I can't grade this!" it cried.  
  
A few boys rushed into the bathroom to see what all the noise was about. They stared in disbelief at the specter scolding them.  
  
"Get to class! Get to class!" it roared, waving a finger at them. The boys scurried out, screaming.  
  
Subaru tried to yell the spells above the specters booming voice, but it was no use. It started pacing back and forth, explaining the importance of studying and doing homework.  
  
How am I going to do this? Subaru wondered. It won't quiet down. His only hope was that it didn't go out into the halls.  
  
Well, it did. Shouting and lecturing, it floated right out the door and into the hall where a good portion of the student body was passing to the next class. Subaru rushed out there too and watched as many people ran and screamed, frightened of the menacing ghost.  
  
"Calm down!" Subaru could hear Hokuto's voice over everyone else's. She ran into Subaru, who was still trying to chant the spell. "What is going on?"  
  
"That ghost came out of my teacher's pen!" Subaru shouted, though he was barely audible. Hokuto gave him a questionable look and he replied, "Don't ask!" He ran after the spirit, who was making its way to the cafeteria.  
  
"This place is disgusting!" it shouted at no one. "Students shouldn't eat, they should study!"  
  
Subaru tried to yell the spell again, but Hokuto butted in and did it for him. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the spirit dissolved in mid-air, being sent to the other side peacefully. However, the halls weren't as quiet as the now permanently deceased ghost. Students ran wildly around, telling everyone in sight what they had seen, screaming and shouting.  
  
"Oh, great," Hokuto said. "Now what do we do?"  
  
Before this could be answered, the fire alarm went off and everyone rushed to the nearest exit, pushing and shoving whomever was in their way. Somehow, Subaru and Hokuto managed to make it out without being trampled by panicked students. They stood outside on the grass, waiting for instructions, though most people were running around like madmen, raving about a ghost.  
  
Suddenly, the principal came in sight with a megaphone. "Attention all students and faculty," he said with the megaphone on its highest volume. Many people settled down. "Despite rumors, there was no ghost in the halls. It was simply a broken water pipe and a prank that created your so-called 'apparition'. You are all acting like children and should know better. Please return to your classes immediately and resume normal classroom activities. Thank you." He turned off the megaphone and went back inside.  
  
To be continued… 


	10. Chapter 10

Another short chapter. This story's getting kind of pathetic, but please continue to read. Thank you.  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 10  
  
"Broken water pipe my butt!" Hokuto exclaimed at home. "I can't believe he said that. Who would be so gullible as to think a water pipe would make a figure (that shouts, no less) like that?"  
  
"Apparently the whole student body," Seishiro retorted. "Otherwise they wouldn't have filed in so neatly."  
  
Hokuto shrugged. "Idiots," she murmured under her breath.  
  
Subaru blushed. He was still quite embarrassed that his exorcism had gone so awry. Even his toughest exorcisms didn't attract so many panicked citizens. He was just glad no one knew it was his failed attempt to calm the ghost that had made such a ruckus.  
  
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Subaru walked over to the door, answered it, and there stood Alicia with a sheepish grin across her face.  
  
"Alicia!" Subaru said with surprise. "Um, how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, thank you," she answered. "How is Seishiro?"  
  
By now, Seishiro had come to the door. "I'm just dandy, thank you," he said with a smile, though rather sarcastically.  
  
Without warning, Alicia burst into tears. "I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!" she cried, hiding her face in her hands. "If I hadn't brought you guys to the Johnson Place, this all wouldn't have happened."  
  
"It's not your fault!" Subaru explained, leading her inside. "And Seishiro really is fine. He…"  
  
"You're right, this wouldn't have happened," Seishiro interrupted. He was speaking to Alicia. "Your grandfather wouldn't have been caught and he'd still be living his solitary, but happy life in his house. If we hadn't come along, everything would have been just like it always has been." He paused. "It seems to me like you're apologizing to your grandfather more than us."  
  
Alicia ceased her crying to look up at Seishiro as he spoke. "You're right," she agreed, taking a tissue out of her coat pocket. "I am sorry you were a part of this mess, but I'm also sorry my grandfather is in jail." She wiped her eyes and sat on the coach with Subaru.  
  
"He had to be brought to justice," Seishiro stated, still standing. "It doesn't matter that he's your grandfather or an old man; all that matters is that he hurt people and used terror and fear to keep people away from that house."  
  
Alicia simply nodded.  
  
Subaru stood and walked up to Seishiro. He whispered, "Seishiro, you shouldn't be so brutally honest. She…"  
  
"Sometimes you must be," Seishiro replied softly with a smile. And then, so Alicia could hear, "Miss Alicia, can I get you some tea?"  
  
"Yes, thank you," she answered, staring at the floor miserably.  
  
Seishiro left for the kitchen.  
  
"Gee, I'm sorry about your grandfather, Alicia," Hokuto said after awhile. She sounded sarcastic, so Subaru scowled at her as a warning to keep her mouth shut. Hokuto smiled, ignoring Subaru. "I mean, what a pity that such an old man must go to jail."  
  
"Hokuto!" Subaru blurted out. "Go help Seishiro with the tea."  
  
She rolled her eyes, stood, and went to the kitchen. "But I got my eye on you!" she shouted back at Subaru.  
  
"I'm sorry," Subaru said after his sister was out of sight. "She can be a menace sometimes."  
  
Alicia smiled. "It's no problem. My little sister's the same way."  
  
"You have a sister?" Subaru asked, making conversation.  
  
She nodded. "You should meet her. She's eleven now and a real pistol." She laughed. "She wants to be an actress or a circus performer. Can you believe it?"  
  
With a smile, Subaru said, "Oh really? That's very original."  
  
"Hey," Alicia suddenly said, her eyes wide and brightening, "would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow and meet my family?"  
  
"Isn't it too soon…"  
  
Alicia laughed. "Oh, no. You see, my parents haven't been in contact with my grandfather. I'm the only one in my family who has spoken to him for, I'd say, three years."  
  
"Really?" Subaru questioned, quite surprised. His grandmother called him at least once a week. Not speaking to her for three years seemed like bliss, though he knew that would never happen.  
  
Alicia nodded. "So, would you like to come over?"  
  
"I don't want to intrude," Subaru said politely, even though he was eager to spend some leisure time with her.  
  
She shook her head. "You wouldn't intrude at all. My dad will fire up the grill, we'll make some hamburgers and hot dogs, some corn on the cob…"  
  
"Cob?" Subaru questioned, not familiar with the word.  
  
She laughed and patted him on the arm. "You'll see."  
  
He smiled. "Ok. What time?"  
  
"Seven will be good," Alicia told him. "I'm sure my parents will love you."  
  
Subaru blushed, not quite sure what that meant. "I can't wait to meet them."  
  
To be continued… 


	11. Chapter 11

Now we're getting to the good stuff. This chapter contains a somewhat lime scene between, you guessed it, Subaru and Seishiro. Not for the homophobic out there. You've been warned.  
  
Subaru in America  
  
Chapter 11  
  
The next day, Subaru sat in school with the anticipation of spending the evening with Alicia and her family. He was overjoyed. This signified his first friendship in the U.S., which made him feel like the important socialite he was not. However, he had found someone who was kind and smart, as well as fun to be around.  
  
During the lunch hour, he decided to tell Seishiro about his high hopes for the evening. Instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch, he brought his brown paper bag to Seishiro's classroom, where the biology teacher was on his lunch break.  
  
"I'm happy for you, Subaru," Seishiro informed him, after Subaru told him how he felt. He had pulled up a chair where Subaru sat. They had been chatting casually before Subaru brought up the subject of that evening's dinner. "It's good to see you've found a new friend." He watched Subaru eat for awhile, then said, "You need someone your age."  
  
Subaru paused from his eating and said, "Well, I don't have to have a friend my age. I mean, having a friend like you is nice, but I do like knowing someone who may have the same problems as me."  
  
"Oh? You mean like adolescent problems, am I right? Teachers you can't stand, etcetera," Seishiro said with a nod.  
  
Subaru agreed. "You understand don't you? I can't exactly complain about teachers in front of you."  
  
Seishiro laughed heartily. "Well, you'll probably be complaining about me after I give you the pop quiz I have planned for today," he said.  
  
"Did it really that bad?" Subaru asked, concerned.  
  
Seishiro placed his hand on top of Subaru's. "Don't worry," he reassured, "you'll do fine."  
  
Subaru blushed and was about to say thank him, but someone entered. It was a scruffy looking janitor wearing a jump suit with his name printed on the left side of his chest.  
  
"I'm here to fix the bell in this room," he said, his accent distinctly southern.  
  
Seishiro quickly took his hand away from Subaru and said in an annoyed voice, "You can do it after school. Can't you see I'm on my break and don't have time to tell you what's wrong?"  
  
The janitor snarled. "Fine, fine," he said reluctantly and left.  
  
"The bell's not working?" Subaru questioned.  
  
"No," Seishiro answered. "It hasn't rung in this room all day." He shrugged and changed the subject. "Back to what I was saying…"  
  
"The quiz?"  
  
"No. About friends," he corrected, holding Subaru's hand. "You will find more friends, but I want you to remember who is really important to you."  
  
"What are you saying?" Subaru asked, confused.  
  
Seishiro grinned warmly and stroked Subaru's cheek with his finger. "I don't want you to forget about me while you're with your other friends."  
  
While blushing, Subaru said, "I won't forget about you."  
  
Seishiro moved his chair closer. "You'll forget me after awhile."  
  
Subaru shook his head. "I'll never forget you," he reiterated.  
  
Seishiro backed away then stood. "You might forget what we have," he said. He began to slowly erase the notes from his previous class on the chalkboard to prepare for the next class, which would be coming in a few minutes.  
  
"Seishiro," was all Subaru could say, not sure what they had. He picked up an eraser and started to help Seishiro clear the board.  
  
The other ceased erasing and snatched Subaru in his arms. He held him there for a few moments before saying, "I love you, Subaru. I always have."  
  
Subaru blushed bright red and stammered, "Sei-Seishiro…"  
  
His eyes bore into Subaru's as if reading his mind. "You love me," he said more as a statement than a question.  
  
"I-I," Subaru managed before Seishiro kissed him lightly on the lips. He moved his hands up and down Subaru's back as he kissed him again, more fiercely this time as if he wasn't aggressive enough before.  
  
Moving his lips down to Subaru's neck, he uttered, "You and I have something we cannot share with anyone else."  
  
"A secret," Subaru gasped, his body limp and ready to be give in to Seishiro's will.  
  
Seishiro moved Subaru to a clean counter about a foot away, lying him on top of it. He then advanced on Subaru, starting to unbutton the boy's shirt. He was on top of him now, kissing his bare, exposed flesh passionately while undoing his own pants.  
  
"Seishiro, I don't think you should…" Subaru began, but Seishiro cupped his hand over the former's mouth, quieting his pleas for any sense of decency.  
  
They lay like that for awhile, Seishiro on top of Subaru, Seishiro smothering him with fervent osculation, touching the younger man's entire half-naked body. Subaru simply allowed him to do whatever he wanted, remaining still for the majority of the few minutes. He knew it was wrong, but he felt Seishiro's excitement; pleasure reverberated through his own body, and it was erotic and sensual. All he wanted was to remain in that state of passion for a long time. It was satisfying to hear Seishiro's excited moans in his ear, and he wanted the older man to know he too was feeling this deep carnality as well.  
  
Before Subaru could do anything, their lovemaking was soon interrupted by a startled, "Oh, my God!"  
  
Seishiro and Subaru quickly looked towards the door to find a group of about seven or eight students staring mortified by the scene that lay before them. All their eyes were wide with shock; one girl's hand was to her mouth as if she was about to throw up.  
  
After slowly getting off of Subaru, Seishiro zipped up his pants and said, "And that's how it's done. There will be a quiz Friday."  
  
Though Seishiro was joking about this, Subaru quickly ducked behind the table, out of sight of the students. He hugged his shoulders and swallowed an ounce of vomit that had come up into his mouth. His attitude was beyond embarrassment; there are no words to describe it. His face was completely pale white with a grayish-green tint from his sudden sickness. He shook violently, trying to put his clothes back on as he could hear the students approach Seishiro.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a bold one blurted. "What you do in your private life is your own business; you shouldn't bring it to school. I'm going to report this to the principal."  
  
Though Subaru could not see him, he could tell that Seishiro was smiling. "Oh, no you're not."  
  
"And why shouldn't we?" another one said.  
  
"You're all in my class and I just happen to know how badly you all need good grades."  
  
"Are you bribing us?"  
  
Seishiro didn't answer directly. "I don't know. Did you see anything happen in here?"  
  
There was silence for a few moments before the first kid said, "See what?"  
  
"Very good," Seishiro stated. "And if you just happened to remember anything, I'll make sure you all fail this class."  
  
Subaru peeked over the top of the table to look at the students. Some of them seemed disgusted with themselves for sacrificing their morals for a good grade. Others were quite content that they were guaranteed good grades for biology, one of the most difficult classes in the school. They sat down in their desks as other students filed in, ready for their next lesson.  
  
Seishiro turned to Subaru and smiled. "You can pass to your next class now, Subaru," he said, helping Subaru stand.  
  
"Seishiro," Subaru gasped softly, "I…I…"  
  
The other began writing something on a piece of paper then handed it to Subaru. "Go to the nurse and go home."  
  
Subaru nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. As he walked out, the students who had witnessed Subaru and Seishiro's sinful act starred at him with mixed expressions. One girl giggled, another scowled. A boy murmured "queer" under his breath while another looked like he was going to ask Subaru if he could buy him a drink. Suddenly, Subaru noticed that one of the other students was looking at him with sad eyes, almost as if she was disappointed. Subaru gasped when he realized who it was. Alicia.  
  
To be continued… 


End file.
